A Vox Wav Pro Bridge For Connecting From The Car, Phone Or Smart Watch Possible?

[Simeon Tuitt]

Hi James,

I know a number of people have asked the question of how they can connect to vox from outside the home and it is possible to send commands to vox since that is over TCP but the issue has always been getting TTS audio back since that is over UDP... All alien terms to us non techies though, but any bridge device in the pipe lines?

Even a device we install on an android device we leave at home that allows us to connect to vox on the home network or get the voice feedback from vox sent back to us over 3g/4g, so if in the car with vox wav pro on we could tell the heating to come on and get the audio feedback from vox telling us it was just turned on.

Or for those of us who have set up vox to a security system, if any camera's caught motion we could get audio notification from vox over 3g/4g on our mobile in real time.

I know from what you said below "When I created VoxWav I really didn't think much about making it work from remote locations" when you made vox, so would a bridge be a quick and easy integration to make it possible for two way communication over 3g/4g?

VPNs usually require a subscription for a fixed login and aren't really an easy or good fit for staying connected from outside home, with a car computer, smart watch with a tiny screen, tv stick away from home or mobile it would require logging in to a vpn each time to use vox wav pro and disconnecting after.

Some VPNs auto disconnect once a signal drops and change login info after, so a bridge seems like an idea, would one be possible with vox wav as it is? 

Re: Using Tasker with VoxCommando

« Reply #38 on: April 16, 2015, 07:05:20 PM »

Quote

I think the only way to really use VoxWav is to set up a VPN.  I have tried it and it worked fine.  If you have a router that supports VPN it is pretty straightforward to set up.  Your phone will act as though it is on your local network.

With just using DynDNS and port forwarding You can send voice data to VoxCommando because that is done over TCP but all other communication between the two programs is done through UDP which doesn't normally traverse WAN connections.

When I created VoxWav I really didn't think much about making it work from remote locations.

[nime5ter]

I think it's been suggested before, but for those who missed it: You can use Autoremote & Tasker to send TTS messages from VC to your remote Android devices.

Once you've set up Autoremote, all that's required in VC is a command that uses a Scrape action to send the appropriate string to Autoremote. (This is determined by Autoremote & Tasker's syntax requirements.)

Or users can get more fancy with a bit of experimentation.

http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?topic=1541.msg13558#msg13558

[Simeon Tuitt]

Hi nime5ter,

From what I can tell from the link that process would require creating lots of different events for auto remote to send and it isn't a very fast process to implement for non techies.

I would also like to skip tasker out of the process, while I do use it for certain things, anything I have tried it for using Auto Voice requires the mic to be left open which has a beep ever few seconds which then requires me to turn off all media audio.

I really need a straight app solution that would allow me to just use vox wav as normal and have two way communication over 3g/4g.

The whole scraping etc for TTS sending back to my mobile would also slow down the feedback from vox, I want to keep it fast and smooth.

Thanks for the input though.
Sim

[jitterjames]

Your expectations are simply not realistic.

[Simeon Tuitt]

Hi James, care to elaborate on that, in what way, a bridge isn't possible, back and fourth command and feedback from vox over 3g/4g with an android bridge device isn't realistic, your answer is very vague, it could be referring to my reply to nime5ter or the original message, so need clarification.

Cheers.
Sim 

Your expectations are simply not realistic.

[jitterjames]

I am referring to everything you said in your original post and in your reply to nime5ter.

From what you say it seems that you are looking for something that is fast and free and doesn't require any effort to set up.  You don't want to use Tasker, you don't want to use a Dynamic DNS service, and you don't want to use a VPN.

I don't know what this magical "bridge" is that you are talking about but the closest you can come to a bridge AFAIK is a "tunnel" which is basically what a VPN gives you.  You could just as easily call it a bridge.  It makes it seem as though your device is on the same network as VoxCommando.

No matter what you do if you want a fast connection you are going to need to connect directly to your home LAN.  That means using a Dynamic DNS service.  There used to be good free options for Dynamic DNS.  I don't know if there still are but the paid ones are not so expensive and have other benefits.

I would also like to skip tasker out of the process, while I do use it for certain things, anything I have tried it for using Auto Voice requires the mic to be left open which has a beep ever few seconds which then requires me to turn off all media audio.

Why don't you want to use Tasker?  No one suggested using Auto Voice so the fact that you don't like it is not really relevant to this discussion.  Nime5ter was suggesting that you use AutoRemote and Tasker to get messages from VC to your phone.

[Simeon Tuitt]

I am referring to everything you said in your original post and in your reply to nime5ter.

From what you say it seems that you are looking for something that is fast and free and doesn't require any effort to set up.  You don't want to use Tasker, you don't want to use a Dynamic DNS service, and you don't want to use a VPN.

 [/b]

I don't know what this magical "bridge" is that you are talking about but the closest you can come to a bridge AFAIK is a "tunnel" which is basically what a VPN gives you.  You could just as easily call it a bridge.  It makes it seem as though your device is on the same network as VoxCommando.

No matter what you do if you want a fast connection you are going to need to connect directly to your home LAN.  That means using a Dynamic DNS service.  There used to be good free options for Dynamic DNS.  I don't know if there still are but the paid ones are not so expensive and have other benefits.

Already use a DNS service, getting commands to vox is not the issue, it's the output back.

Why don't you want to use Tasker?  No one suggested using Auto Voice so the fact that you don't like it is not really relevant to this discussion.  Nime5ter was suggesting that you use AutoRemote and Tasker to get messages from VC to your phone.

Thanks for putting some meat in the reply, your previous one never gave anything, now you couldn't be more wrong in your assumptions "it seems that you are looking for something that is fast and free and doesn't require any effort to set up", "you don't want to use a Dynamic DNS service, and you don't want to use a VPN"

I already use a DNS service and have for years, they are great for delivering voice to vox but as you stated in one of your previous replies on here:

Re: Using Tasker with VoxCommando   

« Reply #38 on: April 16, 2015, 07:05:20 PM »

•Quote

I think the only way to really use VoxWav is to set up a VPN.  I have tried it and it worked fine.  If you have a router that supports VPN it is pretty straightforward to set up.  Your phone will act as though it is on your local network.

With just using DynDNS and port forwarding You can send voice data to VoxCommando because that is done over TCP but all other communication between the two programs is done through UDP which doesn't normally traverse WAN connections.

When I created VoxWav I really didn't think much about making it work from remote locations.

So a DNS service doesn't work for getting the voice feedback, I tried a vpn ages ago after reading the above reply and it didn't work either, that is why I asked about whether a bridge was possible to connect vox wav from outside the LAN.

EXAMPLE OF A BRIDGE APP I ALREADY USE
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.originally.tasker

As an example I use the broadlink tasker plugin, it works fine within my LAN, but to connect to my broadlink from outside the house I have it installed on another android that remains home and turn on the BRIDGE function within the plugin for 3g/4g connecting, this allows me to connect to my home network over 3g/4g.

So even when I am out any commands I send through the broadlink app in tasker somehow connect it to my home network.

I don't have a problem paying for things, I as many here would happily pay for an updated vox wav or bridging app if it allowed 3g/4g connectivity without all the hoop jumping of auto remote or vpn services, I would rather something simple than loads of effort that requires me becoming a TechSpert spending hours learning new stuff to make something work.

If you responded in a way with some feedback on whether the bridge idea is feasible or gave some suggestions on it instead of a one line reply that was completely vague, I would already be looking for a developer to build it or this community could rally to fund it and have your tech mastery build it into vox wav because in the end it really only comes down to money and time and whether you see the point in adding 3g/4g to it based on demand.

That I get and understand, but like I say myself and others wouldn't have a problem paying for the feature to be added since although you may not have considered connecting from outside a home network when you designed things, everyone wants to be able to be able to use it now as they get more creative with their vox uses.

It is however a feature I would happily pay a subscription payment to enjoy the benefit of using.

You've got a great software with a cool app, both easy to use, the extra steps of jumping through vpn, tasker, auto remote to connect from outside home messes up what is a very simple process for the non techies of the world to be able to get into home automation.

I read your reply to the thread nimester posted here where you said:

http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?topic=1541.msg13560#msg13560

"The problem you will face when using autoremote is that you will need to create special actions for each command that you want to send TTS to your phone.  There is no way to "redirect" the existing TTS actions to a new action"

With how many commands I have it doesn't sound like tasker is the best fit based on that reply and how many actions would need to be created.

I don't want vox to have to send to tasker to get voice output from vox wav or for it to skip vox wav and come through tasker, that is just plain messy.

It would mean a car computer running android, TV stick and smart watch both having to run tasker and autoremote.

All of the above is really irrelevant now though, the bottom line is what would you want us as a community to pay to have you get 3g/4g connectivity with audio coming from vox wav added and mic always on mode, so the moment vox wav pro is opened the mic is on, instead of having to select it from the app?

Vox and vox wav pro are two of my best software purchases, more people should know about them both and if you get vox on www.jvzoo.com for sale not only would it get the leverage of people who love promoting on there, everyone here who wants to could promote it.

The more people behind it using it the more features and updates the app will get, although the 4g connection and always on mic are the only ones that are needed.

If you do get vox on the site above for sale and offer a 50% commission, drop me the sign up link and will happily promote it.

[jitterjames]

I don't particularly want to argue about this and certainly don't want to get into a mudslinging competition but you seem to be contradicting yourself so it makes it difficult to have a meaningful conversation:

VPNs usually require a subscription for a fixed login and aren't really an easy or good fit for staying connected from outside home

does not seem to agree with:

I already use a DNS service and have for years, they are great for delivering voice to vox

Since a VPN does not actually require any kind of subscription (it is just something you enable on your router), I assumed the only possible thing you could mean is that by fixed login you mean Dynamic DNS service.  If you meant something else please elaborate.

I would also like to skip tasker out of the process

does not seem to agree with:

EXAMPLE OF A BRIDGE APP I ALREADY USE
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.originally.tasker

It might be possible to come up with a solution using tasker to get responses from VC back to VoxWav but you dismissed that suggestion out of hand:

From what I can tell from the link that process would require creating lots of different events for auto remote to send and it isn't a very fast process to implement for non techies.

I really need a straight app solution that would allow me to just use vox wav as normal and have two way communication over 3g/4g.

This last quote of yours in particular is what led to my suggestion that your expectations were not realistic.  If this is really what you need, then I suggest you go ahead and find a developer you can hire.  I suspect that you do not appreciate  the amount of work that would be required or the cloud based infrastructure needed to make this a possibility.  There are not enough people that want this and are willing to pay for what it would realistically require.  Voice control enthusiasts are a very small group.  Users of VC are a smaller group.  In no way can you compare an app that is just made for "people with smart phones" to an app that is made specifically for users of VoxCommando that also use Android and want to be able to talk to their computer when they are not at home.

If you are willing to work with the tools that exist I believe that there is probably a way to come up with a workable solution, and we would be happy to explore this with you, but expecting a perfect solution without making some effort is not the way forward.

One possible option that I have not explored but that might work is to have EventGhost listen to UDP messages on the LAN that are intended for VoxWav, pass those to Autoremote, and Tasker then passes these to VoxWav.  I don't actually know if that last part is possible, and yes there is going to be some delay.  That is unavoidable.

On a side note, if you are going to quote me, please learn to use the tools for quoting on the forum.  It is very difficult to process what you have written because it is not immediately obvious where the quotes end and your voice begins.

[Simeon Tuitt]

So what steps would you suggest to get the vox commando voice feedback sent to vox wav pro using eventghost, tasker and auto remote?

Lets see if we can get this working for 3g connected voice feedback.

Cheers.
Sim